how to take better studio portraits?

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/10/2012 10:49:58 AM · #1

ok, now that i mastered studio lighting... (big joke by the way.)

i need some help getting my cheap backgrounds to not look like, well, cheap backgrounds.

right now i use a muslin cloth suspended over a frame. i can light my subject just fine, but the backgrounds looks like a sheet hanging (which it is) now normally i just remove the whole thing in photoshop and replace it with some sort of gradient filled layer, and it looks ok, while im getting better at masking, i can still see the flaws.

so how does one light a backdrop or place a model in front so that the background isn't so overpowering.

i have a flash with an umbrella and another flash and u can trigger all remotely. i also have two around 5500K 120W fluorescent bulbs at my disposal.

obliviously the umbrella is the main light the subject and i tend to use the second flash as fill for the subject

leaving me with nothing to drown out shadows cast on the backdrop, save for my ambient lights which are recessed spot lights for the room and they cast a much yellower hue.

Mark-A

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

05/10/2012 11:18:20 AM · #2

For me it made a huge difference when I started putting a good distance between the model and the background, you can control the light better (eliminate spill) and also you get a nicer blurring of the background which allows for small flaws in the background to be hidden.

Sometimes you want your subject to be closer though like in the image below so I use gobos to block spill - use another flash to properly light the background and do several test shots just on the background so I can eliminate any problems with an iron / clothes brush etc.

slickchik

OM System OM-1

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

05/10/2012 01:57:00 PM · #3

I've been using a roll of black paper and it works very well. Also, get your models a good distance from the background. It would be better IMO to iron the sheet or try to make it as flat as possible.

Here is a sports portrait I did with the black paper and the kid was at least 6 feet from the background

slickchik

OM System OM-1

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

05/10/2012 01:59:39 PM · #4

Oh, and you don't want to have to mask out the background... That is way too much work. I try very hard to get everything right in-camera so post processing is very minimal.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

05/10/2012 02:07:16 PM · #5

Originally posted by slickchik:

Oh, and you don't want to have to mask out the background... That is way too much work. I try very hard to get everything right in-camera so post processing is very minimal.

yes that is my intent. although it is much easier now that i have a solid color white background :)

MattO

Nikon D4

05/10/2012 04:25:22 PM · #6

The easiest way to make cheap backgrounds look good is with lighting and using a LONG lens to shoot portraits with. I shoot studio portraits with a 70-200 lens or an 85MM prime.

slickchik

OM System OM-1

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

05/10/2012 05:37:14 PM · #7

Originally posted by MattO:

The easiest way to make cheap backgrounds look good is with lighting and using a LONG lens to shoot portraits with. I shoot studio portraits with a 70-200 lens or an 85MM prime.

Yes, you'd be surprised what shooting with a long lens will do to the background... especially at the 200mm end.

As an example, here is a shot from the 200mm end:

Here is a shot from the 120mm end:

I know this isn't studio work but it does show you what happens to the background. I never understood what people meant when they said longer lenses compress the background until I saw something like this. It's not a HUGE difference but it's all I have right now :-)

Message edited by author 2012-05-10 17:37:59.

05/10/2012 08:46:33 PM · #8

Got it, luckily my basement is 30' long :-)

smardaz

05/10/2012 08:54:49 PM · #9

one thing you can do if you're not already is use a whiute sheet and use one of the lights to blow it out and give you that white studio look